Adjustable shoe gripper



1951 v N. M. MORRIS 2, ,9 3

ADJUSTABLE SHOE GRIPPER Filed Feb. 15, 1951 ATTORNEYS.

Patented Dec. 25, 1951 sure PAT EZNT 2,579,953 I ADJUSTABLE SHOE GRiPPERNaomi MMmis, Cleveland, "ohm n ucaneh FeBr'uai-y 13, 1951,Serial=No.--210;687

-1 This i'nvention relates gripper, :or more particul-arly, to an*anti-slip attacliment fo"r shoes.

'By -'wa-y of 'b'ackground it may be noted tha Walking u on 'a slld wy riy surface iS always dangerous, and serious irijiiry to personsslippingand "falling on such a surf-ace is quite common. This is true even whererubber 'o'vershoes h'aving a cleated or roughenedunderside are used:since thesole' of the overshoe is nowr a configuration 'or'materialthat'willena'ble it togrip the ic'y surfac'eand' prevent slipping.

Accordingly, .the broad object of the present inventionistbpravitie anattachment to a shoe, that will dig into and efiectively grip the icysurface in such a manner as "to eliminate any "possibility "of the-'-we'a'rers slipping and 'falling upon the ice.

Another important object is to provide an attachment of the type statedwhich can be secured to -th'ei1nderside of a slioe'with speed ande'ase.

"sti'u andtner 'dbjectis 'tbprovide an attachment as describedwhich'will be adjustable'to fit 'shbesbf'aiiywidthor'lngth. I

Ytaiititlierbbjectdsto provide an attachment as described 'novellyformed t'o result in a iparti'cularly effective gripping action, throughthe provision of 'griipp'ingfbajr'si'iiten'ding along opposite :sides ofthe device in converging relation, and equipped with pointed-bins,nails-or: cleats, these 'cdo'p'ratin'g with "a 'ci'r'cmar centrally"disposed heel plate underlying the heel of the shoe and equippedsimilarly with nails or cleats.

Still another object is to provide an attachment of the characterdescribed which will be ruggedly formed of metal material, which willhave few parts simply arranged, and which will be nevertheless capableof being manufactured in a manner whereby it will be light and, to allintents and purposes, invisible when worn.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details ofto an adjustable shoe construction and combinations of parts,hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claim, it beingunderstood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangementof parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Referring to the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the attachment.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary bottom plan view.

Fig.' 3 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of one of thegripping bars.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of one of the adjustableconnections.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the device includes an elongatedcenter bar I, adapted to extend longitudinally and centrally of the soleof a wearer's shoe, not shown. The center bar I rea'r end .of' -thecenter bar, the recess :2 havmg fdrined in its bott'dm' surfacealongitudinal series off'tlir'ea'ded openings 3. H

' Ill trlridialie its 'op'positei'end's, l'thefcfit'er bar I isintegrallyfdimd with a CTOSS piece 4, fdis- .posedjat right anglesto thecenter bar, the cross pieces having, one "endportionextended: laterallyasubstantialdistance, so 'a's'to 't' minate'barely short or one Sidenfthe'sol'e bf 'th'e wearers "Shoe.

Said-laterally extended end portion of theic'r'oss "piecesisintegranyro'rmed with'aharciiategrip ping member '5, the integralconnection of the gripping member 5to "the'cross piece "4bei'n'gdisposed intermediate opposite ends of the gripping member 5, butcloser to the rear :end thereof.

The other endof 'the 'crosspiece i is'e'xtended :onl'y ashortdistance'beyondthe center'barl, and is"fo'r'rn'ed with a longitudinal'Irecess 6 like the recess 2, therecess *6 having.'alongitudinal 'seriesof threaded openings 1. I

iReceived inthe recess i6 'is ohe'e'nd'of acon- 'ncting i bar 8, "having'at op'posit'e ends pairs of openings receiving screws "'9 "and i 0"respectively. The screws 9 are threadable into any adjacent pair ofopenings 1, while the screws Ill are threaded into threaded openingsformed in an inwardly extended lateral projection [2 formed upon theintermediate portion of a gripping member [3.

As will be seen, the gripping member I3 is capable of being adjustedlaterally toward or away from its cooperating gripping member 5, so asto adjust the device to the width of the particular shoe.

It may be noted that the front portions of the members I, 5, and I3 allextend forwardly in converging relationship, in general correspondenceto the generally tapered tip construction of a shoe. In this way, thesole of the shoe will be effectively equipped with gripping means, thatwill extend from the front of said sole to a location close to the heelof the shoe, along opposite side edges of the sole.

To hold the front end portion of the device in proper position upon theunderside of .a shoe, I provide rings I4 welded or otherwise rigidlysecured to the respective gripping members 5 and I 3, intermediateopposite ends of the gripping members, the rings respectivelyaccommodating strap sections l5 and IE capable of being adjustablyconnected after being extended over the upper of the shoe.

Received in the recess 2 of the center bar I is a connecting bar l1,having screws at opposite ends threaded into any selected openings 3,for the purpose of adjusting the device as to length, the screws at theother end of the connecting bar being received in threaded openingsformed in a forwardly extended projection 18 integral with a circularheel piece l9 adapted to underlie the heel of the wearers shoe.

At its rear end the heel piece is provided with an upwardly extendedring 20 welded or otherwise rigidly secured to the heel piece, thishaving secured thereto oppositely extending strap sections 2| that arecapable of being adjustably secured after being extended around the toppart of the Wearers shoe, or around the wearers ankle, as the case maybe.

On the underside of the heel piece I9, as well as on the undersides ofthe gripping members and I3, there are provided a plurality ofdownwardly extending pointed cleats, burrs, or nails, integrally securedin place and adapted to dig into the snowy or icy surface for thepurpose of preventing slipping. These extend over the full area of theheel piece, as readily seen from Fig. 2,

and are extended longitudinally of the gripping members for the fulllengths thereof.

I believe it will be sufficiently apparent as not to require specialillustration that the cross bar 4 and the center bar I can as well beprovided throughout their lengths with cleats 23, if so desired.

Of importance is the fact that the gripping members, center bar, crossbar, heel piece, and connecting bars are all disposed with their topsurfaces co-planar, so as to provide a plane surface upon the entireattachment, whereby it will be capable of being fitted snugly to theunderside of the wearers shoe and will be invisible to all intents andpurposes when being worn, with the exception of course of the straps.

What is claimed is:

An anti-slip attachment for shoes comprising an elongated flat centerbar adapted to extend substantially longitudinally and centrally of and4 underlie the sole of a shoe, said center bar having a longitudinalrecess in its rear end, a cross piece rigid with the medial portion ofthe center bar and having a longitudinal recess in one end thereof, agripping member proportioned to underlie one side of a shoe sole, aconnecting bar secured at one end to said gripping member, theconnecting bar extending into the recess of the cross piece at its otherend, means for attaching said last-named end of the connecting barin'selected positions of adjustment longitudinally of the cross bar, foradjustment of the gripping member toward and away from the center bar, asecond gripping member rigid with the opposite end of the cross bar andadapted to underlie the opposite side portion of a shoe, a heel piecespaced rearwardly from the center bar, a connecting bar secured atopposite ends to the heel piece and in the centerbar recessrespectively, the connection of the connecting bar last-named to thecenter bar being adjustable longitudinally of the center bar,- and meanson the undersides of the heel piece and the respective gripping membersadapted to grip an icy surface or the like, said means comprising aplurality of spaced depending pointed cleats, said gripping members andheel piece having means for attachment to a shoe.

NAOMI M. MORRIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 318,366 Fitch May 19, 1885366,977 Page July 19, 1887 958,984 Waldstein May 24, 1910 2,189,884 DowFeb. 13, 1940 2,313,099 Smith Mar. 9, 1943 2,361,972 Smith Nov. '7, 1944FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 11,674/ Great Britain's---" May 30,1891

